This week:
The UConn Huskies are back in action on Saturday afternoon when they’ll host the Central Florida Knights in their Homecoming Game at Rentschler Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m.
UConn is 1-6 (0-4 American). UCF is 5-2 (3-0 American).
The Line:
According to Rivals.com odds, UCF is favored by 10.5 points. The over/under is 39.5 points.
Tickets:
According to UConn Huskies ticket office, there are still tickets available to Saturday’s game.
Getting To The Game:
Here is link for the weather report. Here is all the parking info you will need for the game, this link includes directions to Rentschler Field. Here is a Rentschler Field seating chart and here is some general information for Rentschler Field.
The parking lots will open up 4 hours before kickoff. Here is a list of the tailgating rules at the Rent.
There is a new route for the Husky Walk as the team arrives for games at Rentschler Field this year and fans get a chance to greet the team as they get off their buses and make their way to the stadium. The Husky walk, which takes place approximately, two hours and 15 minutes before kickoff, will now start in the Gray Parking Lots and the team will makes its way to the large tunnel near Gate B.
The UConn team will now do its pregame warmup in front of the UConn student section on the South End of the stadium – a change from previous seasons. The Huskies will enter the stadium for pregame warmups on the concourse of Rentschler Field and go through the student section.
Once again, FanFest takes place starting four hours before kickoff up until 30 minutes before the game between Gates A and B outside the stadium gates. The offerings change each game, but activities typically include inflatable games for children, live bands, promotional vehicles and UConn student-athletes from various teams signing autographs.
The break between the third and fourth quarter will feature “Coach D’s Playlist” as fans during the game will get to select a song to play based on a list they saw earlier in the game.
Once again this season at the end of home games, the UConn team will sing the “UConn Husky” fight song in front of the student section at Rentschler Field.
JASPER HOWARD MEMORIAL
A memorial in honor of Jasper Howard, the UConn football student-athlete who tragically lost his life five years ago, will be officially dedicated on Saturday at halftime. Funds for the statue were raised in a grassroots fashion with the efforts spearheaded by UConn supporters Dan and Lisa Lowry of Prospect, Conn. The lead gift for the memorial came from former UConn head football coach Randy Edsall, who was Howard’s coach with the Huskies. Donations also came from former Husky student-athletes and fans from around the country.
Howard lost his life on October 18, 2009 – hours after UConn had defeated Louisville at Rentschler Field on Homecoming. Howard recorded a career-high 11 tackles in the contest and a fumble recovery.
Funds will continue to be raised for the Jasper T. Howard Endowed Scholarship Fund at UConn, which is presented annually to a cornerback on the Husky football team who best embodies the qualities of Howard.
For information on how to contribute to that fund, please visit http://s.uconn.edu/howardscholarship.
The statue is made of barre grey granite quarried in Barre, Vt. It is a three-piece memorial that has an overall height of seven feet and weighs 3.25 tons. The top piece of granite is carved into mirror 6’s so whether viewing from the front or back it is a 6 and is colored to replicate the home jersey Howard wore.
The pedestal which the 6 sits on top of is lettered on the East and West facing sides. The east side has a quote from Jasper and is accented by 23kt gold leafed letters. The west side contains a narrative of Jasper’s life and a porcelain picture of Jasper. K. G. Keena Memorials of East Hartford, Manchester Monument Company of Manchester and Wethersfield Monument of Wethersfield designed, created and installed the piece.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Television:
Saturday’s game will be televised nationally by the CBS Sports Network. Dave Ryan is on play-by-play with Corey Chavous on color and Dana Jacobson on the sideline.
Radio:
The UConn IMG Sports Network is the home of Husky football on the radio. WTIC NewsTalk 1080 in Hartford serves as the flagship station and is the state’s only 50,000 watt signal and can be heard in 23 states and parts of Canada.
Veteran UConn announcers Joe D’Ambrosio (play-by-play) and Wayne Norman (color commentary) return to call the action with Kevin Nathan on the sidelines.
UConn football on home noon Saturday dates gets going early with “Breakfast At The Rent” with Ray Dunaway beginning at 5:30 a.m. For noon games, the UConn Tailgate Show airs from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m with Bob Joyce and Nathan. “UConn Football Magazine” begins at 10:30 a.m. as the network pregame show.
Here is a full list of stations on the UConn IMG Radio Network.
UCF Knights Radio:
WYGM 940-AM serves as the flagship station of the UCF IMG Sports Network. Marc Daniels handles the play-by-play while Pat O’Hara (color commentary) and Jerry O’Neill (sideline) join Daniels.
The UCF game will also be available on Sirius Radio Channel 137 and XM Channel 206.
Last Week:
UConn fell to East Carolina 31-21. UCF beat Temple 34-14.
History:
Saturday’s game will be the second meeting between the two schools with UCF taking a 62-17 win over the Huskies on October 26, 2013 at Bright House Networks Field in Orlando.
Connections:
There are 10 Florida natives on the UConn roster – Fr. OL Ryan Crozier (Plantation), RSo. CB John Green (Miami), So. CB Javon Hadley(Miami), Fr. RB Ron Johnson (Naples), RSo. DB Ellis Marder (Windermere), Fr. OL Daniel Oak (Fort Myers), RSo. K Bobby Puyol (North Palm Beach), RFr. OL Kyle Schafenacker (Cooper City), RSr. LB Brandon Steg (Coral Springs) and RFr. CB Jhavon Williams (Wellington).
The UCF roster does not have any Connecticut natives on it.
High school connections:
Lake Highland – UCF RSo. WR Hayden Jones. UConn RSo. DB Ellis Marder.
Fort Myers – UCF RFr. OL Tate Hernly. UConn Fr. OL Daniel Oak.
McEachern (Ga.) – UCF RSr. OL Tarik Milner. UConn RJr. LB Jefferson Ashiru.
UConn Notes:
Here is the video from UConn head coach Bob Diaco’s press conference. Here is a transcript of some his remarks from the press conference.
UConn head coach Bob Diaco made his UConn and collegiate head coaching debut on August 29th vs. BYU. Diaco served on the Notre Dame coaching staff as the defensive coordinator for the past four years and the assistant head coach for the past two. He was the 2012 winner of the Frank Broyles Award, given to the top assistant college football coach in the country and was the first Irish assistant to receive the prestigious award.
Here is UConn’s roster and 2014 schedule.
Here is UConn’s depth chart for the game.
The captains of the 2014 UConn Huskies football team are Geremy Davis, Byron Jones, Alex Mateas and Marquise Vann.
Despite UConn having virtually an entire new staff this year, seven of the Huskies’ full-time coaches have previously worked games at Rentschler Field. Head coach Bob Diaco, defensive coordinator Anthony Poindexter and assistant coach Wayne Lineburg were on the Virginia staff for a 45-10 Husky win on Sept. 13, 2008; Assistant head coach Don Patterson was on the Buffalo staff for a 24-17 UConn win on Sept. 29, 2012; Offensive coordinator Mike Cummings was on the Western Michigan staff for a 41-27 UConn win on Nov. 1, 2003; Assistant coach Kevin Wolthausen was on the Louisville staff for a 30-20 UConn loss on Dec. 3, 2005. UConn assistant coach Mike Foley is the lone holdover on the staff and is entering his ninth season.
UConn has an all-time record of 49-27 at Rentschler Field and a 27-13 mark in non-conference games.
The Huskies were picked to finish 9th in the American in 2014.
Head coach Bob Diaco and his staff have seen a large number of players get into games this season – many of them first time college performers. Diaco played 57 players against BYU, 55 against Stony Brook, 56 vs. Boise State, 55 vs. USF, 57 vs. Temple, 54 vs. Tulane and 54 vs. East Carolina.
According to a survey conducted by Arizona State, UConn has the 12th most freshman and sophomores on its two-deep (26), the seventh-fewest seniors on the two-deep (8), and the fourth-fewest total seniors on the roster (12).
Here is a breakdown by class of Husky players who have seen their first collegiate action during the first four games of the 2014 season – a total of 23 players.
True Freshmen (9)
TE Alec Bloom, LB Luke Carrezola, OL Ryan Crozier, LB Vontae Diggs, TE Steve Hashemi, TB Ron Johnson, RB Arkeel Newsome, OL Trey Rutherford, CB Jamar Summers.
Redshirt Freshmen (10)
H Blake Feagles, DL Folorunso Fatukasi, OL Thomas Hopkins, LB Junior Joseph, WR Thomas Lucas, RB Joshua Marriner, TE Tommy Myers, LB Cole Ormsby, LB Cameron Stapleton, LB Jalen Stevens
Redshirt Sophomores (4)
C Kyle Bockeloh, OT Andreas Knappe, DL Sean Marinan, P Justin Wain
After throwing for 303 yards at East Carolina on Oct. 23, Chandler Whitmer became one of 11 quarterbacks in the FBS to eclipse 300 in a game in each of the past three seasons.
The list is:
- Shane Carden, East Carolina
- Rakeem Cato, Marshall (four seasons)
- Cody Fajardo, Nevada (four seasons)
- Connor Halliday (four seasons with 400)
- Taylor Heinicke, Old Dominion (four seasons)
- Brett Hundley, UCLA
- Sean Mannion, Oregon State (four seasons)
- Marcus Mariota, Oregon
- Bo Wallace, Ole Miss
- Chandler Whitmer, UConn
Geremy Davis has made a reception in 33-straight games, dating back to the 2011 season, the 12th-longest such streak in the country.
Deshon Foxx had an 88-yard TD pass reception from Whitmer in last Thursday’s game vs. East Carolina. The play was the fourth-longest pass in school history and the longest since a 90-yarder from Dan Orlovsky to Jason Williams against Temple in 2004.
Senior cornerback Byron Jones (New Britain, Conn.), who saw his UConn career end against East Carolina, had a 70-yard interception return for a TD late in the first half of the USF game on Sept. 19. Jones also has a career fumble return for a touchdown and became just the third Husky player to have a fumble return for a TD and an interception TD in a career. Jones fumble return for a TD also came against USF – in a 16-10 UConn win in 2011.
The UConn defense is ranked fourth in The American and 45th in the country in total defense at 361.4 yards per game. UConn is also ranked 28th nationally and third in the league in rushing defense (123.1 ypg) and is 64th in scoring defense (26.4 ppg). UConn is 23rd in the country and second in the conference in punt returns at 13.00 yards per return.
In individual leaders, redshirt junior Marquise Vann (Cincinnati, Ohio) is 33rd in the country in tackles with 9.4 per game – which is tied for fourth in the conference.
Preseason Award Watch Lists:
Notes from this week’s opponent UCF:
Here is some video from UCF coach George O’Leary’s weekly pregame press conference. Here is the full audio of O’Leary’s press conference. Here are some selected quotes from his press conference.
George O’Leary is in his 11th season in charge of the UCF program and has guided the team to six bowl appearances during his tenure there, including a 52-42 win in last year’s Fiesta Bowl over Baylor. During UCF’s time in Conference USA, he led the Knights to two conference championships and four division titles. O’Leary enters Saturday’s game with an overall head coaching record of 129-91 and a 77-58 mark at Central Florida. He also served as head coach at Georgia Tech with a 52-33 record from 1994-2001.
Here is UCF’s depth chart for the game.
Here are UCF’s 2014 roster and 2014 schedule.
The Knights are 11-0 all-time in the American Athletic Conference.
UCF carries a 6-2 record vs. schools from New England, and a 3-1 mark against teams from Connecticut.
UConn has faced three common opponents already with UCF (BYU, Temple, Tulane).
Besides the trip to Ireland to begin 2014, this Saturday will be the farthest north UCF will have traveled for a game since 2010 when it visited Buffalo.
The Black and Gold rank 10th in the FBS in total defense, 11th in interceptions and 14th in scoring defense.
Jacoby Glenn has five interceptions, and ranks third in the FBS in picks this year.
To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click
Despite winless record in AAC, UConn believes it’s making strides [ct post]
Jasper Howard Memorial To Be Unveiled Saturday At Halftime [hartford courant]
Memorial A Joyful Moment For Jasper Howard’s Fiancee [hartford courant]
Next Week:
UConn heads out on the road next week as they’ll take on the Army Black Knights at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 PM.
